Suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi’s Wife Extends Stay In Venezuela

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The wife of suspended San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi will be allowed to stay longer with her family in Venezuela under a court order signed by a judge on Friday.

Mirkarimi was suspended without pay in March following his guilty plea to a misdemeanor false imprisonment charge in connection with a domestic violence incident involving his wife, Eliana Lopez, on Dec. 31.

Mirkarimi allegedly grabbed Lopez’s arm during an argument, causing a bruise. The argument was about Lopez’s desire to take their son Theo for a trip to Venezuela.

Lopez, who works as an actress, was allowed in March to take Theo to Venezuela for five weeks to visit her ailing father, according to a court order signed by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ronald Albers.

The court order noted that the family was left with no income as a result of Mirkarimi’s suspension by Mayor Ed Lee on official misconduct charges.

Mirkarimi is awaiting an Ethics Commission hearing on the charges, which will then be given final consideration by the Board of Supervisors, which has the power to either remove him from office or reinstate him.

In the meantime, Albers on Friday modified the court order to allow Lopez to stay in Venezuela for an additional seven weeks, until June 16.

The order states that the attorneys of both Mirkarimi and Lopez agreed to the arrangement, where she “can find temporary work within the film industry, and where their son is protected from the publicity surrounding this matter.”

The order also allows the couple to have “peaceful contact” for purposes of setting up the previously required daily telephonic visitation between Mirkarimi and his son.

A status hearing in the case had initially been scheduled for Tuesday but will now be continued until June 19.

The city’s administrative case against Mirkarimi, however, will be back in the courtroom Tuesday as the city attorney seeks to obtain phone records from Linnette Peralta Haynes, who served as manager of Mirkarimi’s campaign for sheriff.

Mirkarimi previously served for seven years on the Board of Supervisors before being elected sheriff in November.

Judge Harold Kahn issued a tentative ruling today denying the city’s attempt to have Haynes appear before the court and hand over phone records.

A hearing on the issue is scheduled for Tuesday morning in the Civic Center Courthouse next to City Hall.